Month: April 2015

I love baking. I love creating. But truthfully, most of my own kitchen time is simple and quick. It is lacking in the elaborate efforts I put into cooking for others. It does, however, taste freaking delicious!

My ideal fridge is packed with lots of vegetables. Green as far as the eye can see. So last week when I went to the store, I aimed high for filling my refrigerator for the week with lots of tasty veggies. Opening the door, I stand and contemplate for a moment. I am not a girl who likes to over-prepare or think. I am very much a free spirit, who lives in the moment. Granted sometimes I will create as I’m walking or hiking in the woods, my imagination and creativity spike when I’m surrounded by trees. My best really happens on the spot though.

Take this morning for instance. On our way out to kettlebell class, my mother is urging me to be thinking of a good routine. Do I? No. I wait until I get the white erase marker in my hands and just let exercises just flow onto the board. So as I stand in my fridge, weighing my options, I just start to conceptualize a dish. This is going to be good. I just know. Most of my cooking is based on intuition, gut feelings, and a whole lot of confidence. And I wasn’t let down, this one of the best meals I’ve made in a while. Like I mentioned it was also easy and didn’t take long to make. Continue reading “Double Pork Wrapped Asparagus”→

The setting: post hike. I’ve just got off my bike after a rad day of Spring hiking, well deserved after a week of being sick, stuck in my apartment, not eating. I’m on cloud nine having had some sunshine and woods times. I like a child get cranky without my Nature time. I go to the fridge.

I had all this bacon chilling in my fridge that my boyfriend gave me and a major craving for some broccoli to go with it. So after I’ve got my broccoli on, I open the drawer to grab the bacon and the horseradish cheese is staring me in the face. Pleading with me not to let it go to waste, or to use it and let it shine. I shut the drawer. Tempted. Hmm…. oh what the hell. Broccoli and cheese? It works and can be an interesting twist. Just chop up a tiny bit of it and put it in the skillet. Results? Absolute tastiness of course!

What is a girl to do when she looks in her fridge, only to find herself staring at a loaf of Paleo bread, horseradish cheese, bacon, and broccoli? These were the contents of my fridge (and a large jar of awesome lard that I got at the Bloomington farmers market). This girl decided to make grilled cheese. It’s been on my mind for a long time. At work I serve out baked potato grilled cheese on the daily. But I wanted something gluten-free. Something a little outside the box. And frankly I tasted a sliver of the horseradish cheese on it’s own and it was completely overwhelming to me. Not my style. I figured if I added the broccoli with the bacon it would cut the flavor a bit. Melting it, actually made it a lot better in taste too. So here it is, my first grilled cheese experimentation!

I may have mentioned this the over day, but for some reason I always go back to serving people pizza. I dream of a food bus carrying: Paulin’s Paleo Pizza. So when I was supposed to have a few friends over from work the other day what did I make? Pizza! (I also attempted ice cream, but it was only half-heartedly and still early in the season).

Really what happened is that my girl Julie and I have been trying unsuccessfully for a while now (months) to have a craft, hair, food, artsy, whatever we feel day. On our original day I was set to make cauliflower pizza. She blew a tire. This go around I was talking at work about making pizza again, but using another crust. Judah, chimed in that I always say I’m going to bring him pizza, but have yet to. A little stunned (happy) about being called out on my lack of impeccability, I aimed to right it. Needless to say Judah was invited to join us later on into our girls day. I received a text from Julie at 5 am that she’d been up sick for hours. Julie didn’t make it out of bed. But I did stick to my word and made a pizza for Judah. Plus he brought me kombucha that his mom made, as a trade. Fermented food and beverages Continue reading “Pesto and Prosciutto Pizza”→